SJR #2 – Assessment Inventory Committee Meeting Update

I attended the Assessment Inventory Meeting this week–I am not sure what direction the committee is heading. I appreciate the open discussion and the questions that were being asked by some committee members. The next meeting will be February 22, 2016 from 4:00 to 6:00 – Townsend Building.

Dr. Terri Hodges with the Delaware PTA and Natalie Avini Ganc, a Delaware teacher, both made public comments at the end. They commented about how there are no parents or classroom teachers serving on the committee. When I addressed the committee, I told the committee that I agreed with Dr. Hodges and Ms. Ganc’s comments. I also asked the following question and asked for the DOE to get back to me and the committee with an answer:

We are constantly comparing schools and their state assessment scores. I asked if there was data available showing which schools test in March, April, and May? With an elementary school that tests in May, the school’s scores are compared to another elementary school that tests their students in March. The elementary school that tests in May has two additional months of instruction time compared to the elementary school that tests in March. One would assume that a school that tests in March probably has no choice because of the size of their school; the school needs to start testing early on in order to get all of their students tested.

Example: Washington T Booker Elementary School has 304 students and no 5th grade. Warner Elementary School has 529 students and 5th grade. Warner has 200+ more students than Washington T Booker and an additional grade level to test.

I am interested in seeing when schools are testing and if, certain schools are testing later, are their state assessment scores better compared to the ones who are testing earlier? Also, does size of a school matter when it comes to state assessment scores? It would be interesting to see data showing size of school and test dates and see if there is a correlation between the two.

Technology is certainly a concern with the testing craze. All schools should have the ability to test in May to optimize learning (as much learning can happen by teaching to the the test). It’s not fair to judge those who test in March v. May. I brought this up to Penny Schwinn last year at a meeting regarding the report card for schools. She said that was more of a district issue. If a district/school is unable to provide something, isn’t that where DOE could be useful and fill in the gap?